The coastline, including Big Sur, State Route 1, and the 17 Mile Drive on the Monterey Peninsula, has made the county world famous. The city of Monterey was the capital of California under Spanish and Mexican rule. The economy is primarily based upon tourism in the coastal regions and agriculture in the Salinas River valley. Most of the county's people live near the northern coast and Salinas Valley, while the southern coast and inland mountain regions are almost devoid of human habitation.

History

Monterey County was one of the original counties of California, created in 1850 at the time of statehood. Parts of the county were given to San Benito County in 1874. The area was originally populated by Ohlone, Salinan & Esselen tribes.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 3,771 square miles (9,770 km2), of which 3,281 square miles (8,500 km2) is land and 491 square miles (1,270 km2) (13%) is water.[7] The county is roughly 1.5 times larger than the state of Delaware, and roughly similar in population and size to Santa Barbara County.

Flora and fauna

Demographics

Income, Education and Poverty 2013

Median Household Income across the populated northern half of Monterey County, as of 2013.

Generally, the western/southern parts of the Monterey Peninsula, Carmel Valley, Creekbridge (Salinas), and eastern parts of Prundale were the county's most affluent and educated (see dark blue on map). These areas had a median household income significantly above that of the California or the U.S. overall (typically above $95,000 vs. $60,000 for California and $52,000 for the U.S.)[8] and comprised roughly 8%-10% of neighorhoods (as defined by Census Block Groups).[9] Educational attainment was at least on part with, or above, state and national levels,[10] in these areas while the percentage of people living in poverty was typically a third or less than national and statewide average (with the exception of South Salinas).[11]

Social deprivation (poverty and low levels of educational attainment) was concentrated in the central and eastern parts of Salinas, and central areas of Monterey, Seaside, Marina, Soledad and King City. In central and eastern Salinas up to 46% of individuals lived below the poverty line and those without a secondary educations formed plurality or majority of residents.[10][11] Overall, the Salinas metropolitan area, defined as coterminous with Monterey County, was among the least educated urban areas in the nation.

Most affluent neighborhoods

Roughly 8% of neighborhoods, as defined by Census Block Groups, had a median household income above $100,000 per year, about 60% above the national median. This coincided with the top 20 census block groups in the county listed below.[8][9]

* Asterisk denotes a hypothetical rank among Monterey County's 226 Census Block Groups (e.g. if the U.S. overall was a Census Block Group in Monterey County, it would be the 141st most affluent of 226).

Least affluent neighborhoods

About 4.5% of neighborhoods, as defined by Census Block Groups, had a median household income below $30,000 per year, about 60% below the national median. This coincided with the 10 poorest of the 20 lowest income neighborhoods listed in the table below.[8][9]

Least affluent neighborhoods (Median Household Income of $34.1k or less)[9][12]

Rank

Neighorhood

Census Reference/Geo-Unit

Median Household Income

1

Downtown Salinas

Block Group 1, Census Tract 13

$21,411

2

Central Seaside

Block Group 3, Census Tract 137

$22,994

3

East Salinas (Del Monte Ave.)

Block Group 1, Census Tract 7.01

$23,250

4

Downtown Monterey

Block Group 1, Census Tract 127

$24,911

5

Central Marina (Del Monte Blvd.)

Block Group 3, Census Tract 142.01

$25,464

6

Hebbron Heights, East Salinas

Block Group 2, Census Tract 5.01

$26,211

7

East Salinas (Del Monte Ave.)

Block Group 3, Census Tract 7.01

$26,771

8

East Salinas (Del Monte Ave.)

Block Group 2, Census Tract 7.02

$26,875

9

Hebbron Heights, East Salinas

Block Group 1, Census Tract 5.01

$28,750

10

Downtown Monterey

Block Group 2, Census Tract 127

$29,070

11

West Santa Rita, Salinas

Block Group 1, Census Tract 105.06

$30,250

12

North-Central Salinas/Chinatown

Block Group 2, Census Tract 18.02

$30,625

13

Central King City

Block Group 2, Census Tract 113.02

$31,579

14

Central King City

Block Group 1, Census Tract 113.02

$33,043

15

Central Soledad

Block Group 3, Census Tract 111.01

$33,110

16

East Seaside

Block Group 1, Census Tract 135

$33,242

17

East Salinas (Del Monte Ave.)

Block Group 3, Census Tract 7.02

$33,244

18

East Soledad

Block Group 1, Census Tract 111.02

$33,616

19

East Salinas

Block Group 3, Census Tract 8

$33,938

20

North Salinas (E. Bernal Drive./Natividad Rd.)

Block Group 3, Census Tract 4

$34,057

86*

United States

N/A

$53,046

118*

California

N/A

$61,094

73*

City of Salinas

N/A

$49,264

* Asterisk denotes a hypothetical rank among Monterey County's 226 Census Block Groups (e.g. if the U.S. overall was a Census Block Group in Monterey County, it would be the 86th poorest of 226).

The 2010 United States Census reported that Monterey County had a population of 415,057. The racial makeup of Monterey County was 230,717 (55.6%) White, 12,785 (3.1%) African American, 5,464 (1.3%) Native American, 25,258 (6.1%) Asian (2.8% Filipino, 0.7% Korean, 0.6% Chinese, 0.6% Japanese, 0.4% Vietnamese, 0.4% Indian), 2,071 (0.5%) Pacific Islander, 117,405 (28.3%) from other races, and 21,357 (5.1%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 230,003 persons (55.4%); 50.2% of Monterey County is Mexican, 0.8% Salvadoran, and 0.5% Puerto Rican.[24]

There were 121,236 households out of which 39.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.0% were married couples living together, 11.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.5% were non-families. 21.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.14 and the average family size was 3.65.

In the county the population was spread out with 28.4% under the age of 18, 10.9% from 18 to 24, 31.4% from 25 to 44, 19.3% from 45 to 64, and 10.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 female residents there were 107.3 male residents. For every 100 female residents age 18 and over, there were 107.7 male residents.

The median income for a household in the county was $48,305, and the median income for a family was $51,169. Men had a median income of $38,444 versus $30,036 for women. The per capita income for the county was $20,165. About 9.7% of families and 13.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.4% of those under age 18 and 6.8% of those age 65 or over.

Government

At the local level, Monterey County is governed by the Monterey County Board of Supervisors. Like all governing bodies in California, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors is empowered with both legislative and executive authority over the entirety of Monterey County and is the primary governing body for all unincorporated areas within the County boundaries. The Board has five elected members, each of whom represents one of five districts. Taken together, the five districts comprise the entirety of the county.[26]

District 4

Jane Parker currently holds the seat for 4th District Supervisor.[37] Her current term ends in January, 2013.[26] However, having won reelection in June 2012, Parker's next term will extend until January, 2017.[38]

According to the California Secretary of State, as of April, 2008, Monterey County has 147,066 registered voters. Of those voters, 72,550 (49.3%) are registered Democratic, 42,744 (29.1%) are registered Republican, 5,488 (3.7%) are registered with other political parties, and 26,284 (17.9%) declined to state a political party. Except for Sand City, all of the other cities, towns, and the unincorporated area of Monterey County have more individuals registered with the Democratic Party than the Republican Party. In Sand City, the Republicans have the advantage by 1 voter.

On Nov. 4, 2008 Monterey County voted 51.7% against Proposition 8 which amended the California Constitution to ban same-sex marriages.

Monterey County is subject to Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act which requires federal preclearance before implementing a change to "any voting qualification or prerequisite to voting."

Crime

The following table includes the number of incidents reported and the rate per 1,000 persons for each type of offense.

Media

Television service for the community comes from the Monterey-Salinas-Santa Cruz designated market area (DMA). Radio stations Monterey-Salinas-Santa Cruz area of dominant influence (ADI) or continuous measurement market (CMM). Local newspapers include the Monterey County Herald, Monterey County Weekly, Salinas Californian and the Carmel Pine Cone.

Home prices

As of December 2005, Monterey County ranked among America's ten most expensive counties, with Santa Barbara County topping the list with a median home price of $753,790. In Monterey County, the median home price was $699,900. In the northern, more densely populated part in the county, the median home price was even higher, at $712,500, making it the fourth most expensive housing market in California. The disparity between the median household income of roughly $48,305 and the median home price of $700k has been cause for recent concern over excluding potential home buyers from the market. The end of the United States housing bubble has caused prices to drop substantially, with median home prices having fallen to $280,000 as at September 2008.[47]